JUANA A SMITH AT WATERLOO

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21354, 22 December 1934, Page 17

JUANA A SMITH AT WATERLOO

<*» ;--t o II L I.ESTER 1 One suru;;,er. about 35 years ago, J was .paying in a pleasant country houie ■> One of my feilow pyests Professor Moore Smith, ieur-K-d and genial person, who, 1 :fe should prove too had brought with him the yym'f 1:1 an autobiography of his ancestor. Sir Harry Smith, which } ;c . v.-: •: He and I were quiet K-ch in his degree studious, ; ■ d v. c H'i many pleasant places !h- 'ful gardens in- which v.<_• rf.tiid Iti/.c. and smoke, and talk. lie v.rt: full of his subject, and •r,ki ■<!<:; r.any agreeable anecdotes rf -hi- --re at Sir Harry and his S:ian::- ; i \vj;<\ Juana. r>,y rtthan HO years I gave no thmigrit the Professor: but two rears ago ! came across his book for • ale at a charity book stall. The reading of it not only brought back memories <>! a delightful summer, but suggested to my mind an amazingly rinse parallel between the adventures of Juana Smith in the fateful week nf Waterloo, and those of Thackeray's Becky Sharp in 'Vanity Fair." 1 do not mean, of thut Juana Smith resembled Bt-ckv Sharp in character; though ) life was full of adventure, she va-. no adventuress. Nor had Sir }!rii:y anything in common with J-;av.-di'ii Crawley, save that they v.rrr both dashing soldiers. But the "f danger, discomfort, s'.fi nhnni infu which Thackeray !u< puppets was exactly that through which Lady Smith threaded her adventurous way during the desecrate days when the fate of Europe was being decided on the field of Waterloo A Soldier's BrickSir Harry Smith was a distinguished soldier and administrator, who fhw more active service than any man of bis lime. He served v.-ith credit through the Peninsula campaign, was present at the captare of Washington, and shared in the disastrous defeat before New Orleans. it l the Waterloo campaign he did goon service as Major of Brigade to the Light Division, and had his reward in two pleasant years m Major de Place at Cambrai during the occupation of France by the Allies. Afterwards he served in Nova Scotia. Jamaica, and India, finishing his active service as Gov-., irnor and Commander-in-Chief at The Cape. In all his service, except r the short campaign in America, }/./ v.-us accompanied by his wife', w.ho tharcd with him the dangers, disscowforts. and anxieties of a soldier's ' fe. For more than 30 years Juana .•Jmr.r. was a model wife to her distjrsuiihed husband. This i-. how he met her. At the f:cgo and capture of Badajoz, when t ; c iji'iM-h army for once broke with :!. n-ajV tradition of moderation in v-'.lory and pillaged, looted, and bur!it the Spanish city and the surrounding country, many non-com-batants were driven almost to desperation by fear and dismay. Amongst these were Juana and her mother. Sir John Kincaid, in his memoirs, relates how one day a beautiful Spanish girl, accompanied by her mother, came from the city to the door of his tent and claimed his protection. The girl was 14 years of age, fresh from a convent school, and her mother was the v.-idow of a gallant officer of one of the oldest families in Spain, used from her birth to the safe and secluded luxury of a high-caste Spanish home. You may imagine how readily the British officers, already furious at the indiscipline of the Hanoverian and Portuguese levies who formed part of Wellington's army, and jealous for the good name of their own regiments, sprang to the rescue of these damsels in distress. The mother was safely provided for, and with the help of v kindly Spanish priest the daughter, Juana Maria de los Dolores de Leon, became the wife of Harry Smith. The ingenuous Johnny Kincaid, aS he then was, confesses that he "fell in love with her but never told her so, and a more impudent fellow rtepped in and won her." The young couple had little time for a honeymoon between the seige oi" Badajoz and :he battle of Salamanca, but enough to teach Juana, who had r.ever ridden anything more exciting than the convent mule, the art of horsemanship. Hereafter she always had her own pet horse and followed the fortunes of the British army,, the favourite of the rank and file, and the mascotte of the Light Division, until tiie battle of Toulouse ended the Peninsular War. Of her adventures as recorded in Sir Harry's autobiography, fascinating as they are, J will not here write, but will envne vn \ho time, shortly before when she fakes up the tale in n fragment of autobiography j "fhcrnwr:. I

The Hundred Days i'i: e year Jo 15 Sir Harry Smith returned \<> Kngbnd after his year's ftrvico in America where he had tefce-n !)■>!•. in the disastrous defeat '•f N'.-v: Orleans, witnessed the death f'f bi.« beloved chief. Sir E. Paken!'ini. and. perhaps worst of all, had V jr the ih-si time since his marriage ijoe.'i deprived of the companionship °f _his beloved wife. As the slow •'iihr-g frigate which brought him heme her way through thick '■> either i:> the English Channel, she na.icrj a coasting boat from Ports'i'OMti:. On asking the skipper for ■ie latest news, he shouted out ''Honupr.rtc-'s back again on the "irene of Fiance." At first the solders thought that the wily mariner pulling their leg. but as they '""air-d Spithcnd. the bustle, excitement. and activity on board every J-'hip ii;ey met proved to them that Uie prelude to the great drama of Waterloo had begun. Sir Harry dashed ep to London, bought "a suuerb dressing case and a heavv JJoJd chain for his Juana and set all 'ail for home. At Waltham Cross, finding tv.-o horses too slow, he put •n four and calloned all the way to Whittlesea. His fond wife, .iust out *rom church, met him in the road and, as the manner was in those days, "fell senseless." She was soon restored and all was joy and haoPiness. Soon, however, a su.m*nons came to hold himself *n readiness to proceed to the front Major of Brigade to the Light

Division under Sir John Lambert. As with Rawdon Crawley, his first thought was for his stable. He bought two horses at Newmarket, two from his father, and one for •Juana in place of the faithful Tiny, now old and warworn, who had carried her through the Peninsula campaign. West, the faithful groom, who had taught Juana to ride and had been with Sir Harry ever since he joined as a subaltern, went in charge of the horses and kit. At Harwich the congestion of oversea traffic was so great that they had to hire a sailing vessel for the whole party. After being detained for a fortnight b.y foul winds at the miserableßlack Eull Inn, they were wafted safely over to Ostend.

Alarms and Excursions skipper charged them only £24 for transporting Sir Harry, his wife, his brother, two grooms, four horses, and a lady's maid, including their food for the 24 hours of the transit. On the way to the front they attended a court ball held by Louis XVIII. at Ghent, and lejoined many of their army friends. Leaving Sir Harry, Juana and her escort proceeded to Brussels, where they found indescribable confusion and all but the wisest m a state of panic. Stout General Lambert was not to be stampeded by the wild reports of the Cumberland Hussars, who came galloping in with news that the French were in close pursuit. "There is not a French solcuer in rear of his Grace, depend on it," said Sir John. "Let's sit down to dinner." So with that, as Sir Harry relates they made short work of a magnificent turbot which the general's butler had secured in Brussels. Lady Smith with the faithful West, her horses, and baggage, having arrived at Brussels, found orders to proceed to Antwerp. She proceeded on horseback; but not long after starting her horse bolted and she parted from West. Almost as soon as she regained control of her horse she met a group of men on horseback fleeing from Brussels at full gallop. These proved to be one oi her servants, who had stolen one of Sir Harry's horses, and some English and Hanoverian officers. On Antwerp after wandering about wet, cold, and miserable in search of lodgings and food, she came across Colonel Crauford'sVife, who supplied all her needs. Next day, June 19, the trusty West turned - up with the spare horses and baggage. All that day and night the place was full of rumours. At last Lady Smith could stand it no longer, and at three in the morning of the 20th she started with West and the spare horses back towards the front. At Brussels they again found rumours, panics, uncertainty; and Lady Smith, to secure accurate news and find her husband, starteu full gallop to Waterloo. Here she found a friend, Charlie Gore, A.D.C. to Sir John Lambert, who told her the joyful news that the French were in retreat, and that her husband was alive, unhurt, and not far off. "Dearest Juana," said this gallant warrior, "I swear to you on my honour that I left Harry riding Lochinvar in perfect health, but very anxious about you." So with a light heart but weary body Juana rode on with Charlie Gore to Mons, which they reached at midnight. She had been in the saddle since 3 o'clock that morning, and ridden the same horse 60 miles and more, most of the way in rain and muds Nevertheless, at daybreak they rode on to Bavav, where they found Sir Harry well and rejoicing in the great victory which we know as the Battle of Waterloo. African Memorial Next came the entry with the Allies into Paris, and some months of gay reaction after the fatigue and perils of the campaign. Sir Harry received promotion, a decoration, and the certainty of advancement in his profession of arms. Juana, as a favourite of the Great Duke, was quartered in the beautiful house of a charming old French lady who showed her exactly where to go for her dresses, went everywhere, saw everyone, did everything. She may even have rubbed shoulders with some naughty Becky Sharp, or talked kindly to Rawdon Crawley. Almost for a certainty she met in some brilliant company the wicked Marquis who was the prototype of Thackeray's Marquis of Steyne. When the delights of Paris palled, they moved on to Cambrai, where Sir Harry had been appointed to the coveted post l of Major de Place. For two years these young folk lived a life of excitement and pleasure. Sir Harry, with the celebrated greyhounds which he had brought from Spain, beat all others at coursing the hare. He hunted the regimental pack of foxhounds, which shared a magnificent country with those brought over by the Duke of Wellington. He had prize money, for the Peninsula, for Washington, and for Waterloo, due to him, to say nothing of a convenient legacy left him by a grandmother. As he himself records, "We were both young. My wife was beautiful—we were feted and petted by everyone"—by no one more, as Juana's record proves, than by the Great Duke. It is no wonder that when the time came for their return to f.he prosaic realities of Shorncliffe, they felt that the curtain had fallen on the happiest time of their lives. It is strange that the only permanent memorial of this gallant, gay, and happy pair should be two towns in far off Africa, bearing the prosaic names of Ladysmith and Harrysmith.